NOVEL WEB Chapter-86 Bralek
Time was a Severynth’s friend, its path made it so. The longer he lived, the stronger he would be, the constant feedback would keep nudging him ahead. But it required certain conditions—keeping his Astylinds strong was one and breaking through the barriers was another. Negative of the first would cease the feedback, and the same of the second would render it useless, which was Ewan’s current problem.
His first try ended in failure, his second too followed the same pattern. The frigid ice block, the relentless threats of the ocean, unknown destination, fear of surviving the tomorrow—all these distractions kept him away from success.
Nana was good at managing them, she could even break through when the wolves’ threat was imminent. Did she trust him that much? He wondered what went on in her mind…
Each trial took time, and when he recovered from his third, the sun’s arc broke out from the horizon. A giant fireball emerging from the endless water, lighting up the sky, its reflection gleaming on the rocking ocean; he could never witness this inside the walls. He gawked in awe, standing tall against the morning breeze; fresh but the salt coated his tongue. Floating in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight tolled his mind. But this breathtaking sight blew it all away, this was his adventure, how he imagined it would be.
His inner child brought a grin to his face as he opened his arms and felt the sun and the wind against his skin, his Astylinds idling around him. The sound of the waves, the whistling wind, the warmth of the dawn—his serenity peaked. He could succeed in his breakthrough now, confidence coursed through him.
……
His spirit pool broke the barrier with ease this time, he finally experienced his seventh awakening with the syrupy cloud drifting out. And with it came his fourth innate skill—Bralek. It was soul defense in essence, yet the freedom of choice for the source made it one of the two most customizable innate skills; other being Varos—the physical defense.
Ewan’s choice for Bralek was the Nine-Tailed Fox, the World Eater. The risks he took with her weren’t for her defense though, it was for the ability she could gift him with. Even If nothing else, just getting the ability to use ‘suggestion’ was worth everything he went through.
The glossy jet pearl glimmered, the argent specks swirling around. Bridge, extract, and condense; he’d completed three parts of the spell, it was now time for ‘cleanse’. Ewan sat cross legged, his eyes closed, and the pearl hovered before him. His spirit invaded it and targeted the fox’s memories, her consciousness, her will. The pearl throbbed; a deathly scream echoed in Ewan’s soul space. His runes trembled and his spirit pool bellowed. It wasn’t easy wiping a World Eater’s existence, but he persisted.
She was dead, he was alive; she was an Astylind, he was a Staron—possibilities smiled upon him.
Sindra—Ice Favored.
He attacked the pearl with Ice-Anima, cornered her, and chipped away at her resistance.
Finally, after his spirit almost drained against the defiance, the pearl stilled. Her basic consciousness couldn’t create traps, but Ewan still completed another round of cleansing before confirming his success. The soul pearl was now his to do whatever he wanted. So, he cast the last part of the spell—merge—and absorbed the pearl inside his soul space. Like a candy in his mouth, it melted in his soul and merged with his spirit pool. Soon an argent barrier enveloped his soul space, flickering and a bit unstable; his nigh depleted spirit couldn’t carry its weight.
Ewan inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. He reached out and silver particles rushed at him, cheering, and playing around. He could sense them now, they were Mystic-Anima.
Mystic Favored….
This was the same as when he used Frost’s ‘Ice-Favored’ with his Sindra—the second level of affinity. Yet, the ice was temporary, the mystic was permanent. He could control the Mystic-Anima as he wished; they moved on his will, acted on his thoughts.
He shook his head and sighed, culling his excitement. Without the mystic rune or a Cerade’s ‘core’, his spells would have minimal effect. His human body limited him too, it would hinder the passage of Mystic-Anima before the completion of ‘Elementalist’ modification.
Still, this surpassed his expectations, much better than the ‘suggestion’ he was hoping for. Though the cost to performance ratio would be horrendous, he could at least cast mystic spells with external Mystic-Anima.
……
It was the first promised sunrise, so once his spirit recovered, he connected to the hub and navigated to Nana’s shop.
‘Hopes & Wishes’ the tilted board above the shop read in fancy fonts. Ewan’s spirit blob floated before the gate for a few seconds before he entered. The ring of the bell and a well decorated shop greeted him; a chandelier hung from the artistic ceiling, an algae-green orb floated to the side, and a sky-blue rug hugged the floor.
“Nana?” Ewan asked, letting the gate close behind him on its own, and the bell rang again.
“Ewan?” A spirit blob sprung up behind the u-shaped counter. “It’s really you!” Nana said and bolted towards Ewan.
“Calm down a bit,” he said. She halted and hovered in front of him, agitated, much smaller than his spirit blob. “Are you hurt? Where did you end up?” he asked.
“I’m good, I fell on an island. The ocean’s ginormous, I never thought it would be this big,” she said, hopping up and down. “It is an ocean, right? It’s not a river, right?”
“It’s an ocean, rivers don’t taste like that,” he said. “Have you explored the island yet? Is there any danger?”
“I don’t know, I just stayed on the beach. I built a small hut there,” she said, her blob fidgeting around, restless. “How does it taste? Is it really salty?”
“It is, way too salty, try it yourself but don’t drink too much,” he said. “And be careful when you explore. Just stay on the beach if you’re not confident, and also don’t go too deep in the ocean.”
“Okay!” she said. “What about you? Where’re you? Did you get hurt?” Her words sped up with each question.
Ewan chuckled. “I fell in the middle of the ocean. I’m floating there right now,” he said.
